Page 86 - The History of Veterans at Highland Springs

JIM POCSIK
HIGHLAND SPRINGS RESIDENT, AIR FORCE MEMBER, VETERANS AFFAIRS GROUP
I graduated from The Citadel, in June of 1962 with a commission as a 2nd Lt. in the Regular Air Force – not the Reserves. I left for James Connally AFB in Waco, TX, in July to attend Undergraduate Navigator Training. After graduation, I was assigned to SAC (Strategic Air Command). This meant that I would be in B-52 bombers. I then had to take another 9-month course called Navigator-Bombardier Training which was at Mather AFB in Sacramento, California.
Upon graduation from that school, I went to Castle AFB in Merced, CA for B-52 Combat Crew Training which was a 3-month temporary duty assignment. I then went to Stead AFB in Reno, Nevada for a one-month Survival School. I finally made it to Beale AFB in Marysville, CA for my PCS (Permanent Change of Station) assignment as a crewmember in the B-52G. This was now September 1964 so I had enough school to get a doctorate degree.
I went from Navigator to Radar Navigator quickly and attained instructor status in both seats. I was promoted to an S (Select) crew and shortly became an evaluator of both crew positions. I flew many missions, both as a regular crew member on alert status and as an instructor-evaluator in the Standardization Section. We flew training missions averaging 10 to 11 hours as well as “Chrome Dome” missions which were 25-hour airborne alert flights carrying nuclear weapons.
I resigned my commission in 1967, and after a one-year extension, separated from active duty as a Captain with an honorable discharge in November 1968. I was offered and accepted a reserve commission and remained in the inactive reserves for two years.
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